Research interests

Bioorganic and materials chemistry, with particular emphasis on enantioselective catalysis, and design of functional polymers and hybrid organic-inorganic materials for biomedical applications

Motivation and applications

The motivation for enantioselective catalysis project in Prof. Kadnikova’s research stems from the fact that many drugs and other biologically active molecules are chiral (have “handedness,” like left vs right glove). The pharmacological properties and side effects of these compounds often depend on the absolute configuration of the chiral centers in these molecules. New ways of making chiral drug precursors using biocatalytic reactions have been already developed in Prof. Kadnikova’s lab. This research would lead to development of better synthetic methods for preparation of chiral pharmaceuticals. Prof. Kadnikova’s approach to new functional materials to control their composition at the nano-level.

Her group is also making nanoparticles with core-shell morphology, in which the polymer shell is grown from the inorganic core using enzymatic polymerization. The resulting composite materials have interesting mechanical and chemical properties with possible biomedical and “smart materials” applications.

Prof. Kadnikova is an author of 12 journal articles (including a 2008 article from her work at UMKC) and over 20 conference papers. She is a strong believer in involving undergraduates in research; 20 students have participated in her research projects at UMKC, three of them have already appeared as co-authors on conference papers. Currently, her research group consists of several undergraduate students, who are working with Prof. Kadnikova on dynamic kinetic resolution of unsaturated esters into chiral alcohols and on synthesis of core-shell gold nanoparticles, respectively.